The Brothers Grimm (published 1812 – 1826)
Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm and his brother Wilhelm Carl Grimm were born in Hanau, Germany in the 1780s. Despite their fame as authors, most of their stories were not original. They crafted and recorded folklore passed orally from storyteller to storyteller over generations. But the Grimms were concerned that as the culture changed, the stories would get lost. They wanted to preserve the tales in books. They spoke with storytellers and recorded the tales, first publishing them in 1812. The stories initially targeted an adult audience, though, obvious in the adult themes that permeate the tales. Despite their first book’s name, Nursery and Household Tales, the stories often involved sex, violence (Hansel and Gretel is about child murder and cannibalism at its core), unintended pregnancies, bodily mutilation, even incest. Over decades, the tales were revised as children grew increasingly interested in the stories.